Doll and Teddy's

Classic Barbie dolls

I looked the traditional barbie doll that many kids have. I liked this idea as barbie is in itself a timeless classic, overtime barbie has changed it's look, the clothes have been changed to fit with new fashion trends overtime. 

I also looked at how the boxes that they came in have changed or been made to fit with the special edition, what I liked when looking at images on google 

Barbie Basic Range

The Barbie Basic Range

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie_Basics

The new Barbie Basic Range features 12 dolls which all have different faces, skin tones and different little black dresses. To accompany the range of dolls you can buy accessory packs:

• Sliver pack
• Gold pack
• On trend eighties
• Evening wear

Like the dolls they are designed to be bought at a low price. These dolls are apart of the 'Black Label Collection' which means they have an age limit which is 14+ as they are seen to be more collectible then a toy.

This website shows the original range as seen in the above picture along with the collections within the existing collection. They have been added to make the collection more of a collectible item, with the dolls having different outfits or accessory's. There are six collection's within the original:

• Collection 001.5
• Collection Red
• Collection 002
• Collection 002.5
• Collection Red 2
• Collection 003

http://www.barbiecollector.com/showcase/category/barbie-basics

The packaging for these dolls are not very special as you would think they aren't made for a specific babrbie they are all the same shape and typeographic layout. This could be do with the fact they want to keep the dolls in a low price range where as if it was original barbie in 1959 then they might make the packaging more luxuries. 

Here are some examples of the packaging for these dolls, like I said simple. They have managed to keep a similar theme going with just simple changes of colour or background colour to fit in with i.e. the red collection they changed the colour to red instead of maybe black like the original. So even though the packaging isn't luxuries they have made sure that it fits in with specific collection. 

If I was to do the doll idea I would like to actually have the packaging more as luxury product like the Mulberry bags themselves so they could be made with leather? So if any scraps left over in the factories could be used in the design for the packaging. I think this would then fit in with what the brand is about-natural leather.  

 Some sketches to show what I'm thinking when i say using scraps to decorate the box. I do like the idea of having the leather randomly on the box but it needs to be done tastefully so it doesn't look to tacky as the brand itself is not. I would like to have the leather match the collection so it fits in, also I think if a certain bag made out of particular leather i.e. ostrich or alligator is sold in a certain shop exclusively then the doll and box will also be sold there. The box will then have the scraps of leather also featured on the box to make it a collectible. 

I think this will be a nice way to match the doll to the product. 

Like the Basic Range for barbie, I think it would be a good idea to have an age limit as the people that shop at Mulberry aren't young children anyway but this just show they aren't to play with. 

I wouldn't like the dolls to be as expensive as the bags as they are already cost a lot so I have to think about this as well?! 

Here I was looking at the packaging again and I was visualising how I could create a box for the doll. I looked into the buckles that are used on the bags as a little twist on the box. So each collection of the doll will link with the bag via the buckle?

However after my crit I'm not sure this is right direction as it's quite close to the brand and what they are all about. 

With the help from ollie I was able to bring my design's to life for the style of box that I wanted, I was able to create them on Illustrator

Illustrator design's

This is the design for the opening for my doll box, to fit in with the bags of mulberry,  this clasp is from the 'Willow Collection'. This is just an example of what I think would be a good box for the new product I was playing around with the idea of card for the box but then to leather as further design of the box which looks really good and would fit in well with the brand. 

Doll Houses 

I thought this was a way to get away from the brand and focus more on the idea of dolls and what is sold with them instead of linking the idea to the existing brand. 

So the idea of doll houses came about in my crit, I would also look at the little furniture as this could also be something that is sold along with the dolls. As a little extra.  

Having the little furniture to go with the house is a very nice little extra, as a little connection to the mulberry brand it could be wooden furniture as this is a link to the name. This is just a different direction to the doll idea that is a bit more different.

I like the idea of this being a luxury product, high end price as doll houses were a statement piece in the child's playroom but is now classed as a collection piece among adults where they collect the furniture and dolls. This unlike the furniture idea I can easily package the pieces, as they could come in packs of sets so like bedroom set, bathroom set or even a food set.

Here are a few ideas of a box that could fit in the box, I wanted something simple that shows the luxury of the product without being to tacky like a normal child doll house box as that doesn't really fit in with the timeless classic idea. 

I can see this box being black or cream just because they are such clean cut colours and not to over the top if I was to add the logo somewhere like the top like iv drawn. I do like the idea of using a similar clasp to the bayswater bag however I'm not sure if this is brining the existing brand to much into it?